An Echo's Empty Song
by buggalooshrimp
Summary: AU. This fanfic explores Juliette's inner turmoil as she decides whether she should leave Sean on the day of her wedding to him-and the twisted rationale that leads her to decide she will drag him down instead. What thoughts might have brought Juliette to not leave him at the altar? The question of what might ensue is dependent on your reviews. Juliette/Sean. Thanks for reading!


Disclaimer: I do not own the tv show Nashville (2012), related products, property, merchandise, etc.. I hope that the creators, writers, producers, staff and actors, and, of course, its fans/casual viewers see this work as an ode to the show.

Also, some parts of dialogue and a critical plot device are taken from episode 9.

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**Author's Note:**

**TL:DR After receiving Sean's grandmother's necklace, Juliette reflects, and decides to marry/keep being married to Sean. Also, thanks and please review! ^.^ Continue to next line break for the story.**

_Longer, more detailed version of Author's Note:_

Thanks for choosing to read this fanfic.

This AU story splits from canon at the time immediately following Juliette's receipt of Sean's grandmother's necklace, when Juliette is getting ready to be married in the eyes of the church, an act literally sacred to Sean. In the show, that moment could be seen as the event that makes Juliette realize that she could not betray innocent Sean further by marrying him and that her mother's accusation* that Juliette was not indeed happy was correct.

Juliette consequently decides to leave Sean at the altar, realizing that it would be a cleaner break for him, rather than for her (or so I surmise from a later episode detailing their divorce-settlement-turned-annulment). For the first time in a while, she put someone's welfare before her own, though to be fair, it does not seem as if she ever truly, fully loved Sean.

We start off with Juliette remembering what her somewhat-estranged mother, Jolene, says to her in Episode 9. This is after Sean had convinced Juliette to go tell Jolene, who is still at rehab, of their approaching marriage.

_*Refresher: Juliette tells Jolene. Jolene tells her that "no amount of marryin' is going to quiet your demons." Juliette retorts that Jolene couldn't "stand to see [her] happy" to which Jolene rebuts with an, "And are you?" Cue Juliette angrily storming away._

This fanfic investigates what might have happened in Juliette's mind had she, despite the necklace and her mother's observation, decided to marry Sean. What consequences will this have on the development of Juliette's character?

Please tell me what you think!

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"An Echo's Empty Song"

Her skin was still splotchy, though less freckled with the skin damage that told that too-often sung tale of drug abuse. Hearing her shout "Baby!" irritated her so, and—

"Ughhh!" Juliette groaned, a visceral reaction to the memory of her mother's reply. The utterance started low in her throat but finished with the ghost of a whine. She was now alone, her assistant et al. having cleared the room to give her a few moments before the limo brought her to the ceremony.

The room's walls yet echoed her cry, returning her anguish; she felt powerless to break the walls that had encased her for so long in a milieu of celebrity and deceit. From the corner of her eye, she saw how the sun's glow highlighted Sean's necklace on her neck, but just as she could never feel truly connected to another, she also knew that the sun's warmth could never bring her the comfort she sought. As she recalled her mother telling her that marriage would not bring her peace, she felt guilt flooding her instead…

But what did _Jolene_ know? Her mother had only been "quieting her demons" for most of her daughter's life.

"Hah," Juliette thought wryly. "As if _she_ could call shooting up those drugs something so innocent-sounding as that."

No. Juliette wasn't in pain. And how could _Jolene_ pretend to know happiness when _she_ saw it—when her only way of recognizing it not a month ago were those damned highs? Who was _Jolene_ to recognize dysfunction? And where was _she_ to stop it when her daughter's only respite from hunger was the powdery form of pancake mix dissolving against her tongue—when her daughter's only pillar of support had fallen from drug-induced unconsciousness?

The feelings of guilt that stirred such reverie quickly subsided as her pain and self-pity dominated her once more. That necklace and those words could do nothing and were nothing. Juliette had to smile. For the first time, the emptiness in her heart had provided her some comfort.

After all, who had she in the world but herself? To whom could she confess her pain? Oh, but she would bring that boy with her. Now, she did not want to be saved; she ached to ruin. She needed _something _that she could claim and crush and for which she could feel control. Sean would be a means to an end, a truth that echoed the beginning of their relationship. She would wed Sean. That toy. That fool. And, oh, she would prove her wrong.

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Please tell me your thoughts! :D


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